In One Minute, Afghanistan Veteran Explains Why America Should Leave

Will Griffin, a former US Army Paratrooper, was on BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show recently explaining why the U.S. should leave Afghanistan. This was a discussion in response to President Trump’s announcement of a new surge to country. Will was in Iraq when President Bush announced the surge (2007) and he was in Afghanistan when President Obama announced the surge (2009). He may have some experience with the idea of a surge.

Here is the one minute clip of Will Griffin explaining why the U.S. should leave Afghanistan immediately:

Clearly, increasing the amount of troops to these areas haven’t worked. In Iraq, we now have ISIS. A terrorist organization far worse than any terrorist organization from the early 2000s. In Afghanistan, we wen’t from one terrorist organization to twenty organizations today. Just having a military presence in the region is a huge recruitment tool for terrorists.

In addition, war crimes like Abu Ghraib and illegal prison camps like Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) is another factor of why terrorists despise America. The U.S. has been locking up terrorists without due process, often resorting to torture tactics.

Lastly, the U.S. has been supporting terrorism. America has been supporting, funding, and selling weapons to states like Saudi Arabia and Israel. Saudi Arabia is a nation that operates with a radical form of Islam, Wahhabism. They’ve been exporting their ideology, often funding terrorists rebel groups. In Israel, they have been slaughtering Palestinians for decades without any accountability whatsoever. Both places have benefitted much from the support of the United States of America.

Here is the full discussion on BBC. Of the four guests on the show, Will Griffin was the only one advocating for the U.S. to leave Afghanistan: